This invention relates to locking pliers of the type having fixed and movable clamping elements that approach one another in an axial direction as the pliers are closed.
Locking pliers are known in which fixed and movable clamping elements approach one another in an axial direction as the pliers are closed. Such pliers in the past have been referred to as axial clamps. The axial clamps known to the inventors have provided an axially oriented shaft on the body of the pliers and a sleeve on the movable clamping element. As the pliers are closed the sleeve is moved axially along the shaft to cause the fixed and movable clamping elements to approach one another.
This prior art arrangement relies on a telescoping or sliding action between the fixed and movable clamping elements of the pliers. This is in contrast to a conventional locking pliers such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,312, in which the movable jaw is pivotably mounted with respect to the body to pivot the movable clamping element toward the fixed clamping element in a circumferential rather than an axial direction. It would be advantageous if an axial clamp could be formed in such a way as to eliminate the need for the telescoping sleeve of the prior art.